After success with "Ocean's Eleven", "Original Kings of Comedy" and TV's "The Bernie Mac Show", most would likely agree that it was time for comedian Bernie Mac to get a lead role in a movie. The idea for "Mr. 3000" sounded terrific, too - a egotistical baseball star gets his 3,000th hit and retires, only to find out years later that his record has been edited down, and he's off by three, as three of his hits were miscounted. In order to try and reclaim his record and title, he gets back on the team, despite not being in shape to play.

Stan Ross (Mac)'s old team needs a push in the attendance, and the team decides that bringing Ross back to the line-up in order to try and have him get his three hits would be a good idea. The players don't exactly take well to the idea, calling the 47-year-old "Grandpa". Ross finds out that he's in line for an endorsement deal - for Viagra.

Although the way he starts off playing doesn't back up all the talk he's throwing around, it's not long before his attitude changes and his teammates stop goofing on him and he finds a romantic interest in Mo Simmons (Angela Bassett), an ESPN reporter. However, Ross doesn't exactly get into the swing of things in the game itself, and his batting remains lousy. Still, the people keep coming to see whether or not Stan will get a hit, and the large crowds make the idea of keeping Ross around much more appealing to the team's owner (Chris Noth).

It's a surprise that "Mr. 3000" isn't all that funny. Although certainly not a drama, the picture takes itself rather seriously. Despite a PG-13 rating, the film has enough language and subject matter that it's not for kids. At the point that it's at, I don't see why the film didn't go for the R-rating, which may have allowed Mac the chance for some sharper humor. Overall, the film doesn't quite seem to know what it's going for - a baseball drama (complete with moments of Big Emotional Speeches and a sweeping score, neither of which worked for me) or a comedy, and it gets stuck outside of the strike zone.

The performances are alright, with Bernie Mac tries decently in the lead performance. The material doesn't back him up terribly well, however - the dialogue isn't up to the comedian's level and the bouncing back-and-forth between attempts at comedy and drama don't help, either. Angela Bassett also tries hard and has nice chemistry with Mac, but she's pretty much wasted in the role.

Overall, "Mr. 3000" offers a fun concept, but doesn't develop it well or really know where to go with it - the script never decides if it wants to be a comedy or more of an inspirational/emotional sports drama, and as a result, the film never really does either very well.